Journal 1- Important event

I slid through the door as dread echoed with my empty thoughts. Keeping my head low, I dragged my feet along to the store counter. I thought about how these outside encounters never ended well and usually they did with a sigh of relief. Surprisingly, a sweet, familiar scent danced from my nose to my brain letting me know that this place was okay. I looked up for the first time and saw what hung on the walls; sweet, sweet, chocolate. My eyes danced around from basket to basket, from flavour to flavour. My mouth began to water.

I stood there for a while, mouth agape, until a voice called my name. It was my sister. I broke my stare with the treats and skipped over to say hello.

“What is this place?” I questioned. The smell still twirled in my mind.

“It’s a chocolate factory. Didn't anyone tell you what we were doing today?” I shook my head slightly bothered by the fact that no one tells me anything any more.  I quickly got over it and looked around the room to look at all of the things I had missed the first time around. On my left was a never ending chocolate waterfall spilled over a conveyor belt, and on my right hung plastic molds of all shapes and sizes.

            While I scanned the scenery for more interesting things, the other members of our party strolled in.  We all sat silently on stools at the cold metal table in the middle room until an employee came to welcome us.

“Hello! Has anyone been here before?” Her loud voice bounced off the close walls. Some of us nodded and others were as equally amazed as I was by this place. The perky employee jumped from station to station to explain the rules. I was hardly listening. I had already been captivated by a mold I was dying to use.

            She let us explore and instantly I darted toward the plastic shark mold hanging on the wall. I knew what to do. I ran back to the table and snatched graham cracker crumbs and the milk chocolate funnel from the unsuspecting worker. I spread out the crumbs onto the bottom of my shark mold. Then I started to pour the chocolate slowly but I grew impatient with the snail pace at which the sticky substance crawled out of the funnel. I tipped it forward and before I knew it, a glob spread out over the mold. I jerked back and set the chocolate down. It was perfect.

            I signalled to the employee that I was ready to have my masterpiece placed in the fridge. She politely did so. I waited for 10 minutes busying myself with making truffles, waiting for my chocolate to come out. That perky voice called out my name and I knew it was done. I took my shark out of the mold only to realize that since I had rushed too quickly I had not mixed the crumbs. The face of my “masterpiece” was unrecognizable under the layered coats of graham cracker. Devastated, I stared at my ugly shark, took another look, and just ate it anyway. 

UCF college essay

My biggest fear was that I would never be motivated. During my middle school experience I came into the mindset that nothing really mattered, that it was no big deal if I even passed my classes. I slipped into a dark pattern of arrogance and nonchalance.   My mind told me that there was nothing that these teachers could inform me about that I didn't know. I thought I knew everything about everything. This cost me many relationships with friends, and for a while my relationships with my sisters. I was that little kid that everyone in my age group hates.

In high school I began to see glimpses of the real world. Suddenly I was hit with piles of homework and little explanations on how to complete it. Immediately the teachers stopped holding my hand, and I slid into the low grades. I was confused and disoriented in this foreign place. After a while, however; I got used to failing and I was introduced to disappointment for the first time. My situation became clear when I was told if I kept failing I would work at fast food chains for the rest of my life. I knew that I couldn't keep acting without motivation, and I needed to figure out what that motivation was.

About here is where my parents got involved. They enrolled me into a small private school, and always kept in contact with my teachers. I can honestly say that this saved me. I began to do better on tests and quizzes, and my overall attitude improved. Soon I developed an urge to learn. Science, English, Art, it didn't matter what subject; I just wanted to know everything that my twelve year old self thought she knew. I'm still waiting for the day when I'm satisfied with my knowledge.

The teachers that I met gave me some of the qualities I like most about myself today. I was given the drive to be competitive and incredibly artistic. They were some of the most intelligent, kind hearted, and well rounded people I've ever met. Because of them I actually began to get excited during math class. I started to get a general idea of other people and how they thought about things. I wasn’t completely egocentric any more  and my life improved tremendously.

I went from a lousy know-it-all kid to a motivated and undoubtedly happy kid. This year I plan to make the most out of high school and start really challenging myself to achieve bigger and better goals. I’m not going to sit on my butt any more watching my life tick away on the clock in the corner of my computer. Even though my struggle to make it might not bring tears to your eyes dear reader, I am proud of myself for becoming the person I am right now. It’s amazing how just a new scenery made my optimism levels rise. I finally realized that the world isn't that terrible of a place, and that things really do matter.